Measles isn’t just dangerous – it may erase your immune system: INSAGO/Shutterstock Blindness, pneumonia, severe diarrhoea and even death – measles virus infections, especially in children, can have devastating consequences. Fortunately, we have a safe and effective defence. Measles vaccines are estimated to have averted more than 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023. Yet …
How to give children the freedom to play all across the city – not just in playgrounds: Co-created play space with children and the community, Via Val Lagarina Milan. Milan municipality Children play everywhere. Yet their right to play – protected by a UN convention – is constantly challenged by adults. Play is crucial to …
One lawsuit just helped melt the fossil fuel industry’s defence against being held accountable for climate change: There was a time when oil and gas companies happily linked themselves to the idea of planet-wide environmental changes. “Each day Humble supplies enough energy to melt 7 million tons of glacier!” boasts the headline from a 1962 …
Four lifestyle habits that might just help you live to 100: Resilience to stress is important when it comes to longevity. Sabrina Bracher/ Shutterstock A 115-year-old Surrey woman named Ethel Caterham has officially been handed the title of the oldest living human alive. Many people reading this news may wonder what Caterham’s secret is. While …
Let juries judge disruptive protesters like Just Stop Oil on their integrity – expert view: The UK Court of Appeal recently ruled on an appeal brought by 16 environmental activists serving prison sentences for planning or participating in a series of disruptive non-violent protests. The cases include the five-year term being served by Roger Hallam, co-founder …
The just energy transition ignores labour outside the formal economy. So is it just?: The just transition debate centres on how to move away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy systems while safeguarding working conditions, livelihoods, and economic and social rights of workers in industrial sectors. This debate has mainly focused on paid labour and …
Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group seeks local power in DRC, not just control over mining operations: The violence wrought by the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 Movement is often narrowly framed as intended to control eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s resource-rich mining sites. The rebel group launched its most recent offensive in 2021 and currently controls vast …
Antifungal resistance is not getting nearly as much attention as antibiotic resistance – yet the risks to global health are just as serious: TopMicrobialStock/Shutterstock Fungi are known for causing superficial infections of the nails, skin and hair, but they can also cause systemic infections that can have much more serious health implications. Indeed, over 6.5 …
Climate change: care for humans, other species and the natural environment is the key to a just transition: Communities across the world are facing two worsening crises: a climate crisis and a care crisis. The evidence and urgency on the climate crisis has been expertly illustrated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The …
Plankton mark seasons in the sea, just like leaves and flowers on land: Marine phytoplankton, magnified 400 times. Ekky Ilham/Shutterstock Britain’s seas are rich in wildlife, but many of its species can only be seen with a microscope. These are the plankton – tiny plants and animals found throughout the ocean that are the foundation …
Generations of young women have been bombarded with weight loss medications – ‘skinny jabs’ are just the latest: Medics report young girls are ending up in A&E after using weight loss jabs off-label. MillaF/ Shutterstock “I couldn’t stop being sick. My side and my back were hurting and I just felt like my body was …
China needs to pick a side, and it just might pick the west: For the Kremlin, its “partner of no limits”, China, isn’t doing enough to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine. So, Russia has signed a peace treaty with North Korea, hoping to pressure China into backing Moscow’s war effort further. Meanwhile, the west sees …
Labour promised to scrap the Rwanda policy. But its new approach aims to be just as tough on asylum seekers: Home secretary Yvette Cooper has started to lay out the government's migration policy plans. Number 10/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND Migration policy has always been an ideological headache for the Labour party. Caught between the party’s labour …
Just Stop Oil’s harsh sentences are the logical outcome of Britain’s authoritarian turn against protest: Lengthy prison sentences have been imposed on five Just Stop Oil activists for coordinating direct action on the M25, the main ring road around London. For a non-violent protest, there is no equivalent in modern times. The five years for …
Drained but proud: how it felt to organise South Africa’s first democratic election in just 4 months: South Africa’s historic 27 April 1994 national election marked the end of more than three centuries of colonial and apartheid rule. The period leading to the election was one of heightened political tension, with opponents of change working …
Ghana’s new anti-homosexuality bill violates everyone’s rights, not just LGBTIQ+ people – expert: Ghana’s new anti-homosexuality bill infringes several rights and freedoms, not only of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people but of heterosexuals too. The bill has been in the works since 2021 when it was tabled in parliament as a …
A single person on universal credit now receives 20% less than what it costs just to eat and keep warm: Shutterstock The UK’s income safety net is in tatters. In principle, anyone without income can escape destitution by claiming universal credit or, if above pension age, pension credit. In reality, the value of working-age benefits …
How liberal conspiracy theories can be just as destructive as their extremist counterparts: Liberal commentators frequently condemn conspiracy theories that threaten public safety. The US mainstream media exploded in 2016 when an armed man harassed diners in a Washington DC pizzeria, allegedly because he subscribed to the QAnon online conspiracy theory claiming that a Hillary …